Supports for wall installed accessories



Nov. 11, 1958 J. P. SCARDINO SUPPORTS FOR WALL INSTALLED ACCESSORIES Filed Sept. 2, 1955 4 FOP/V5 y United States Patent SUPPORTS FOR WALL INSTALLED ACCESSORIES Joseph P. Scardino, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application September 2, 1955, Serial No. 532,170

1 Claim. (Cl. 72.5)

This invention relates to supports for built-in, recessed fixtures of the type generally applied to housing walls. The invention is particularly directed to means for installing and supporting accessories such as soap receptacles, tooth brush holders, and towel bars or the like in the bathroom walls, particularly of tile construction although other dispositions in other rooms of the housewill be evident.

To my knowledge, accessories of the above type-are conventionally disposed in a pre-formed opening inthe usual Sheetrock wall of, for example, the bathroom. It is further conventional to thereafter apply tiles or thelike over the wall and around the accessory. Usually, an outer edge or frame of the accessory is cemented to the edges of the opening and this adhesive connection is substantially the sole support for the accessory. Asa consequence, such fixtures often dislodge from their installed position resulting in a high breakage rate. Builders have been aware of this problem which is regarded as serious but notwithstanding attempts to solve the same, nothing has been developed which is of any substantial help.

With the foregoing in mind, I have devised a metal-sup ing and thereby solving the above problem in-a simple although most effective manner. In a preferred embodiment, I form the supporting bracket with-a flat floor which serves as a load supporting member, and a downwardly directed channel extending perpendicularly from one edge of the floor, said channel being adapted tosecurely engage the lower lip of the wall opening. The top, closed end or back of the channel is co-plana'r with the floor so that they may jointly support the accessory. The bracket is perforated throughout so as to receive cement or'plaster which bonds the accessory thereto.

As a modification, an embodiment is provided which forms a substantially complete enclosure for the fixture and which serves to engage not only the lower lip of the opening but the top lip as well. The fixture is further cemented to the bracket on all available sides so as to result in an extremely sturdy support.

The invention will be further understood from the following description and drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a basic form of supporting bracket together with a soap receptacle as an example of an accessory which may be supported thereby;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the installation of the support and soap receptacle;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment of the support; and

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the installation of the modified support.

Referring to Figure l, a typical accessory which is to be installed in a wall is illustrated as soap receptacle having a closed back 11 and a bottom wall 12. The receptacle is, of course, hollow. It is further formed with a circumferential flange 13 serving as a frame. Other Patented Nov. 11, 1958 Ice types of accessories may be of different construction but as long as they are to be recessed in the wall, they may be anchored by the support of this invention.

The support comprises a metal bracket 14 which is formed with perforations throughout. As an example, socalled flat expanded metal or wire lath may be employed. The support is formed with a floor 15, anupstanding back 16 at one end, and a pair of downwardly depending, horizontally spaced flanges 17 and 18 at the other end. Flanges 17 and 18 define between them a channel 19, the top or back of which is closed and co-planar with the floor 15. In fact, the top, closed back of channel 19 may be a part of and continuous with floor 15. It will be observed, in the form shown in Figure 1, that flange 18 is formed with a lateral extension 20 which may be secured as by welding to the underside of floor 15. However, many other methods may be employed to form the flanges 17 and 18, such as by using a single piece of metal for the entire support but which is bent downwardly at flange 18 and then folded upwardly upon itself to form" the flange 18 whereupon it continues forwardly to'form the horizontally spaced flange 17.

The supporting bracket 14 is employed as illustrated in Figure 2. As' is well understood, conventional walls-2'1 comprise boards commonly designated as Sheetrock; Tiles 22 are conventionally applied to the outer or frontsurface thereof by suitable cement so as to form a completely tile wall. However, in order to install a tile accessory, a suitable opening is first formed in the Sheet rock wall, the opening in the instant case, being of the dimensions of frame 13. Ordinarily, it is only this frame which is cemented to the sheetrock and tile.

In installing the accessory'according to this invention, the mouth orbottom end of channel 19 is first pushed over the'lower lip'23 of the wall opening. Channel 19 is of a width so as to firmly embrace suchlower lip. If desired, the flanges 17 and 18 may be pressed inwardly toward each other before such installation, so as to en'a hance the grip. In one operating'embodiment, the ch'a'n-= nel was about one inch 'in height so that a considerable gripping surface was provided. Thereafter, conventional plaster or cement 24 is smeared on the floor 15 as well as the back 16. Plaster is also smeared aroundthe back and bottom surfaces of soap receptacle 10' and the re"-' ceptacle is-then deposited in place over the support I4 -and so that its face extends just enough forwardly of fla'nge 17 to permit the tiles 22' to be installed around thefr'ame:

13 and provide a continuous wall surface. It will be recognized, however, that the'particular method. of installment may be quite diverse since, if the tiles 22 areofi the same thickness as frame13, the channel: 1 9 will:.be rela-'-' tively further back, or directly behind frame 13.

When the plastertsets, the soap receptacle 10 will be firmly anchored in place. Of course, the usual bonding plaster may be used around the frame 13 but the weight of the accessory will be principally supported by the bracket 14, the receptacle forming a substantially unitary structure therewith which is very strong, sturdy and practically impossible to dislodge.

In Figures 3 and 4, is illustrated a modified embodiment offering a greater degree of support. Thus, the lower bracket 30 is substantially the same as bracket 14 save that it is provided with side wings 31 which are integral with back 32. Of course, such side wings may just as well be integral with the floor 33. Lower bracket 30 may of itself be used in place of bracket 14, the side wings 31 being plastered to the sides of the receptacle so as to offer further support therefor. It may also be noted that side wings 31 may be advantageously made longer than the distance between the rearmost flange 18a and the back 32 so as to extend further forwardly than said flange 18a as illustrated in Figure 3. Accordingly,

v 3 when the open mouth of channel 34 is deposited over the lower lip of the wall opening, the wings 31 will tend to protrude slightly forwardly from the wall opening. The builderwill then push the wings into the opening spreading them by hand somewhat, until the front edges 35 of the wings 31 bite into the rear surface 36 (Figure 4) of the wall 21 and thereby afford a considerably greater support for the accessory, particularly against a tendency to tilt. It will be recognized that this might very well occur should a person rest a portion of his weight upon cross bar 37 of accessory 10. However, the action of wings 31 against the wall 21 would resist any tendency of the accessory to tilt out of position.

In conjunction with the lower bracket 30, illustrated in Figure 3, it is desirable in instances where a greater degree of support is necessary, to employ the upper supporting bracket 38. Upper supporting bracket may in fact be exactly of the same construction as bracket 14, it being merely reversed so that the channel 39 has its mouth at the upper end and its back or closed end coplanar with the ceiling 40.

The installation of the composite bracket as illustrated in Figure 3 is shown in Figure 4. The back of the bracket of the composite device is now formed from back section 32 of the lower bracket and back section 42 of the upper bracket which are slidably vertically upon each other so as to adjust the over-all height of. the composite bracket in accordance with the height of the wall opening. actual practice, the lower bracket 30 is installed as hereinabove explained and the upper bracket 38 is likewise installed by pushing it upwardly on the upper lip of the wall opening, the ceiling 40 being then parallel to the floor 33. While it is being pushed upwardly the back section 42 slides vertically against back section 32. If wings 31 have been constructed, as above explained, so as to be slightlylonger than the distance between lower flange 18a and back section 32, the builder will push in the Wings as aforesaid so that the front edges of the wings will bite against the rear wall surface.

Thereafter the builder will apply plaster over all outside surfaces of the accessory (except of course the front face) and will also apply such plaster completely over the supporting bracket so as to substantially fill the perforations and extend therethrough. He then will install the accessory as above set forth and permit the plaster to harden. He will thereafter apply the tiles as usual over the Sheetrock and over the foremost of the flanges as illustrated in Figure 2. It may further be noted that should the foremost flange cause the tile covering it to jut out objectionably, this may be overcome by simply stripping off a portion of the usual paper sheeting on the Sheetrock so that the flange is effectively recessed or countersunk in the Sheetrock whereupon the tile will lie flat over both the flange and the Sheetrock.

There has been shown what is now considered a preferred embodiment of the invention but it is obvious that changes and omissions may be made without departing from its spirit.

For example, whereas I have shown the channels as being applied over both the upper and lower lips of the wall opening, it is evident that brackets may be employed wherein the channels are applied over the side edges of the opening. Thus, the lower bracket 30' may be employed as a side bracket, the channel 34 being pushed over the side edges or lips of the opening whereupon one of the wings 31 may serve as a floor. It is further evident that the upper bracket 38 may be used on the factory to form one of the wings on the lower bracket section and the other on the upper bracket section 38.

What is claimed is:

A support for recessed wall fixtures to be installed in a wall opening, said support comprising a metal bracket having a planar floor and a pair of spaced flanges depending downwardly from one end of said floor and defining a channel having a downwardly directed mouth adapted to embrace the lower' lip of the wall opening, an upstanding back formed at the other end of said floor, the top of the channel being closed and co-planar with said floor,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 72,252 Whittemore Dec. 17, 1867 1,924,724 Olney Aug. 29, 1933 1,966,167 Denk July 10, 1934 2,286,898 Cover June 16, 1942 2,577,011 Hallenscheid Dec. 4, 1951 2,586,178 Rochester Feb. 19, 1952 

